Friday, October 14, 2011

Atlanta band, Gringo Star will release their 2nd LP in 11 days but you can hear the songs performed live tonight at the ND. Their upcoming LP is called, Count Yer Lucky Stars and it's filled with throwback, guitar-pop. Think a contemporary take on The Zombies and you're in the right ballpark. The melodies are infectious, there are singalong choruses and oooooos and ahhhhhhhhs for days. Expect a lot of instrument switching at tonight's show at the ND, as most of the band members are multi-instrumentalists. In other words, if you don't fuck bass players, hold the phone, that bro might also play piano. Now whatchu gonna do?

The buzz for tonight's show hasn't been huge but that doesn't mean it's not a good show. I expect that tonight will be one of those shows that you reference each time Gringo Star comes back to Austin with increased popularity. If you get tickets to see them at the ND tonight you can rub it in everyone's faces when the band is the belle of SXSW 2012.

A band called, The Trees is opening of for Gringo Star tonight but I am so over trying to do research about bands with generic names. It's 2011, when will musicians realize their musical project has to be internet searchable or people like me can't help promote you. Perhaps, The Trees don't want publicity? If that's the case they've chosen an excellent name.

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

There is so much mystery surrounding Grecian, electronic act, Keep Shelly in Athens. Will their country's debt bankrupt the Euro, triggering the U.S. economy into a double-dip recession? Also, who the hell is Keep Shelly in Athens? Well, I can tell you what I know, which is they have released a cassette on a Japanese label, they have released a couple of 7" LPs and a 12" EP via Gorilla Vs. Bear's Forest Family Records. Their sound has been compared to Air and/or Air France, which means it's beautiful chilled-out electronic. The kind of music you listen to while reading a book as opposed to the kind you listen to after doing all kinds of Molly at the rave. All I have heard from them is what can be heard on their Soundcloud page and I love every moment of it. You can buy their EP, Our Own Dream via Amazon Mp3 but the highly limited pressing of the physical 12" LPs have completely sold-out. If you want in on the ground-floor of all of the hype for Keep Shelly in Athens then you better get yourself some FunFunFun Festtickets now! Tickets will sell-out and the longer you wait to buy them the longer you wait in the will-call line. All tickets will be shipped out on Oct. 20th, so if you order them now, they'll be in your mailbox before the festival. Otherwise, you're either missing out or standing in line like a sucker.

I'm very excited because whilst writing this post I sent a tweet to Forest Family Records asking if they sent any copies of the sold-out EP to, my favorite neighborhood record shop, End of an Ear and they responded saying they "might" have a few copies to send to the "release city." Oh, did I mention that FunFunFun Fest is the album-release show for Keep Shelly in Athens? That's right! Oh, and you're favorite hipster-blogger (me) just got us some out of print EPs to celebrate. Holla!!!

I've got to get down to End of an Ear to make sure this thing's a go. You should listen to this other tune from Keep Shelly in Athens and for the love of all that is holy in this universe get your FunFunFun Festtickets now!

There are so many festivals in Austin that it can be hard to keep track of them. Well, I didn't want you to miss out on your chance to get out of the city for a music fest that's, relatively, new to the scene. Utopiafest takes place this weekend on a lovely patch of land in the, appropriately named, town of Utopia, Texas. There will be camping, food, and of course loads of great music. The vibe is mostly folky, pastoral rock but the festival is not pigeon-holed into a specific genre. Some of the most recognizable artists scheduled to perform this weekend include Blitzen Trapper and Dawes but that's only a very small taste of the full line-up.

In an effort to avoid the trappings of the large-scale music festival experience there are only 1500 tickets available for Utopiafest. In other words, if you are interested in being a part of the festivities out in Utopia you should grab yourself some tickets while they're still available. As I mentioned, you can camp on-site and they will even have hot showers available. Take that Bonnarroo! A couple of other things that set Utopiafest apart from other festivals, the beauty of the hill-country venue, free yoga in the morning and even a disc golf course. Bring your tent, bring your disc golfing discs and bring your love for music because it all goes down starting at noon on Friday.

A few weeks ago, I was waiting tables and I noticed a couple at one of my tables looking at an ad for a Ghostland Observatory show. They seemed pretty excited that GLO had an upcoming appearance at ACL Live. When, I noticed them staring at the ad and becoming excited I declared, excitedly, "The rapture is coming!" They looked at me as if I had three heads and then I realizes how maniacal that sentence was out of context. I clarified, "The band called, The Rapture, they're playing a show at La Zona Rosa soon." Then I sheepishly walked away and thought about how I must have appeared talking about the rapture with complete strangers. Well kids, like many lunatics before me, I predict The Rapture will be here tonight! Instead of stalking up your bomb shelter, you should get some tickets because it's not very often that The Rapture is upon is and you don't want to say you missed it. They'll be playing La Zona Rosa tonight, in support of their latest album, In The Grace of Your Love. The lead single from the new album has a moment that reminds me of The Thong Song but I'm ok with that. It's still one of the best singles of 2011.

The new album is great, but let's be honest, all of us who will be at tonight's La Zona Rosa show are hoping to hear tunes from Echoes as well. The Rapture certainly aren't the first band to create live dance-music with a punk aesthetic but they were definitely the ones who captures my attention with it at the turn of the century. I'm really hoping they still play tunes from their early EPs that were released before Echoes but I'm not really counting on it.

I don't know too much about support act, Poolside but from what I've gathered it's a collective from Los Angeles. They are producers and DJs and they'll be playing an official after-party hosted by our dear friends over at Learning Secrets. The after-party will be at 29th St. Ballroom and admission will be $5.

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

U.K. electronic music producer/DJ, Star Slinger is touring the U.S. and will be at Beauty Bar Wednesday night. You probably know Star Slinger from his high-profile remixes, which includes work with Broken Social Scene and Washed Out among others. He has recently released his own compositions, including a single out now via Green Label Sound, which you can listen to below the break. Tomorrow night's show at Beauty Bar is guaranteed to be a hot, sweaty, dancing mass of enthusiasm and if you want in on the action you should grab yourself some tickets now. As I mentioned, Star Slinger is based in the U.K. so you won't get too many chances to see him perform live.

Speaking of chances, I've got a pair of tickets up for grabs and winning them is pretty simple. I can get you on the guest list with a +1 and all you have to do is email contest@austinbloggylimits.com put Star Slinger as the subject and put your real name in the body. The winner will be notified between 3p and 4p on Wednesday. If you don't receive an email by 4:05p Wednesday, assume you have not won and just buy some tickets.